By Matt Browning
Making a tackle, hearing the pads hitting each other and getting his juices flowing were what Valley Center’s Colby Newton was most looking forward to for his senior season.
“Playing football has a whole has a different energy about it,” Newton said. “I couldn’t wait for the first game and just getting to hit again, being an outside linebacker I get a lot of chances to hit.”
Newton made a conscious effort to improve his body in the offseason so he could withstand the rigors of a high school football season.
“First I needed to get bigger,” Newton said. “Last year being a smaller outside linebacker only weighing 155 pounds, I knew that was an area I needed to change. So over the offseason I made sure to eat more protein and eat more often and I was able to gain 20 pounds and I’m now weighing 175. Next was our summer lifting program. All summer I was lifting four days a week at 6:30am and then that night getting another workout in on my own.”
Last season, Newton recorded 63 tackles, so improving on that number was goal No. 1 for him. Through five games, Newton had made 29 tackles.
“I always would like to have 85 tackles this season as I had 63 last year,” Newton said. “I would like to improve on that number.”
